Tuscaloosa researchers study Oklahoma tornado

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Researchers from the University of Alabama are part of a team studying the deadly tornado that struck Moore, Okla., last month. Experts from six schools were part of a group that went to the city to assess damage from the twister, which killed two dozen people. The work is part of a National Science Foundation grant program. The researchers will look at ways to improve the construction of wood-frame homes in tornado-prone areas. Alabama engineering professor Andrew Graettinger says the Moore area has a history of twisters, so the team will look at the performance of homes built after earlier storms. Several members of the research team worked together surveying damage left by the killer tornadoes that hit Tuscaloosa and Joplin, Mo., in 2011. Alabama is leading the study.